Ronda, Spain & other things

This whole last week has been very un-normal. NOT that I'm complaining, it's been nice, but I also feel like it will be twice as hard to go back to work after break. I've only worked 2 hours since last Thursday, so instead I've been filling my time with fitness classes (finally!!) and Dexter marathons. It's been nice. And then next week I only work 3 days and then it's off to Madrid!

Since I seem to have dropped the ball lately on this whole blogging incessantly thing, let's start off with last Saturday when I went to Ronda.

So.
Ronda = love.
Never heard of Ronda? You can read all about its history here. In a nutshell, Andalucía is famous for its pueblos blancos, or 'white towns'. Andalucía is notoriously hot in the summer months and so houses are painted white, or other pale colors, to better reflect the sunlight. This results in little white-washed towns dotting the country side, and some have become more famous than others. Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, Castellar de la Frontera, and Zahara de la Sierra are a few that I have on my list to visit.

It's hard to see the bridges in this picture, but you can see how the city is built on cliffs, divided by a river. 

Eli and I took a day trip there on Saturday. It's a bit of a trip from Algeciras, 2 hours by train, but the landscape was stunning and the trip went by quickly. We didn't have anything planned, so when we found the main street with shopping stores that we didn't have in Algeciras, we got a little sidetracked.
But after some retail/chocolate cake/café con leche therapy, we were back on track to find the stunning views that the city is famous for!

The pictures below are of the Puente Nuevo, the New Bridge, (which was actually built in the late 1700's.) The bridge crosses the Tajo gorge, which lies 100 feet below. This bridge, and the views off the sides of the cliffs, are the reason Ronda is so famous.

 

Trains run through Ronda daily, and spending 4 hours walking around this gorgeous town makes for a great day trip.

The next day, Sunday, I went on a short hike to explore the southern coast of Algeciras. Silly me, I didn't bring my camera because 1) I already have 4,500 pictures on my computer and can't afford to add any more and 2) assumed that the views wouldn't be anything new since I'd already hiked the coast down to Tarifa. Silly me.
The views were stunning.

[Source] There's Africa in the background!

El faro de Punta Carnero is the local lighthouse in Algeciras. It's about an hour walk along a twisty-windy back road that follows the coast line. The mediterranean was a light crystal blue, the outline of Morocco was perfectly visible, and the flowers were just starting to bloom. It really was a picture perfect day. 

[Source]

[Source] Old boat dock remains

[Source] Looking out over Playa Getares

These next pictures were taken by Christine, from christineinspain. She is a ridiculously gifted photographer and hopefully won't be too annoyed I used her pictures if I give her lots of credit for them :)

Since I bite my nails, this is usually my only orange-peeling option. 

That's Gibraltar in the background.

Hanging out with some ruins, could be 30 years old, could be 300 years old! You never really know.

A 14 mile hike, a stranger's dog, & a year's fill of Semana Santa

What do all those have in common? They were all part of the most content, yet strangest, day I've had in a long time.

My day started off at 6:50am, as I grudgingly got out of bed. At 6:50am. On a SATURDAY. Yeah. Big news. After deciding the night before at 11pm that I wanted to go for a 6 hour hike the next day, I was now facing the reality of my decision. The sun doesn't even come up until 8 o'clock here!
My motto since coming to Spain has been "just say yes". Kinda like the Nike 'just do it' logo. Which means that if someone asks me if I want to say...go for a 6 hour hike the next morning at 8am, I don't question it, I just say yes. Which luckily, turned out to be a great decision!

After coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't just burrow back under the covers and call it a day, I scrambled out of the house bleary-eyed, but excited.
I met Eli, Larken and Larken's co-worker's sister (yeah, strange connection) and we headed out for a Spanish "breakfast", aka coffee, to start our day off right. (Luckily I'd had a real breakfast before this. Because coffee and toast with olive oil just doesn't quite cut it for me...)

We met 3 other of the woman's friends, and then we headed off to the drop off point for the hike. Which leads me to the second part of my title, 'a stranger's dog'. At the start of the hiking trail was a little coffee shop, and the owner was running in and out, trailed by 2 dogs. Just before we left for our hike, the owner drove off in a van, leaving the dogs behind. Who then decided to follow us along on our hike.One of the dogs turned back after a couple miles, but the other one followed us for the entire 14 miles!

When we sat down for lunch after 3 hours of hiking, I was sure he would get bored and turn around, but instead he sat down in the middle of the group and kept on eye on things. He drank from puddles along the trail and amused himself by looking out over the Mediterannean.

The trail followed the coast line from just outside Algeciras, straight into Tarifa. It was 13 miles one way, (we went on a little detour first which made it 14 miles) and followed a twisy-turny-rocky-hilly path. It wasn't difficult though, you just had to make sure to watch your step. We took a couple lunch breaks along the way, and of course, plenty of photo stops. The trail was mostly deserted, we only passed 1 or 2 people the entire time. It wound through country side, woods, eucalyptus groves, down through the beach, and through some more country side. It was b.e.a.utiful!

Between the dogs and all the cows/horses/donkeys in the field that I stopped to take pictures of, everyone had definitely noticed my affinity for animals. They started making fun of me: "Emma, hay un burro allí, si quieres sacar una foto", o "de que estás sacando una foto?? Esta vaca??" Yes, I am taking another picture of a cow. Leave me alone.

We chose the perfect day to hike. The sky was a sunny cloudless blue and we could see individual buildings across the straight in Ceuta and port of Tangier. Along the sides of the trail were old ruins of houses, nothing as cool as Roman ruins, but ruins are cool regardless. There was also a section that was used in World War II by the military to defend Gibraltar and Spain. 

The entire hike took 6 hours, and so 6 HOURS LATER, when we walked into Tarifa, our dog was still trotting along behind us! Instead of turning and heading for home, he ambled along behind us through town, lay down in the middle of the sidewalk to wait while we went to a pastelería, and then took a nap in the middle of the outdoor seating section when we got coffee. Finally when we went back to the car to leave, he walked out into the road to follow us as we drove away! I felt terrible leaving him behind knowing that he would have to walk back the 14 miles he had just followed us for! (Everyone else assured me that he would be fine and that he doesn't it all the time....but still. I felt terrible.) 

All in all, between the sun, animals, and new found pet dog, I was in a very good mood when we reached Tarifa. And then I topped that off by buying a chocolate-covered waffle dish filled with whipped cream and topped with a strawberry.

Heaven. 

Oh. My. God. 

Delicious. 

Here's our hike in pictures:

One of the many vacas I saw.

The dog up in the front was our 'guide' for the day. The second one was a giant of a dog with a lame back foot that still insisted on walking with us about a mile up hill.

Lunch break on the beach, with a faithful dog by our side :)

You can't get pictures like this back in Wisconsin!

That's Africa in the background.

Windy windmill ridge.

Ruins.

Me :)

Lunch break #2

Rickety fence line

There's Africa again!

The most loyal dog ever.

Goooooorgeous :)

Stopping to smell the roses.

Then, a couple hours later when I was back at home, I heard what sounded like a marching band procession in the streets, just a couple blocks from my apartment. For a second, I forgot that I was in Spain, where it is completely normal (apparently) to have Semana Santa processions at any time of the year, not just during Semana Santa (Holy Week).  

I ran out of the house, determined to see this parade. Not that I had needed to run though, Semana Santa processions aren't known for their speediness...but this is what I came across! You know you are in a unique place when people voluntarily spend their Saturday nights doing this!

My own personal procession complete with a float and full marching band. The only thing missing where the crazy KKK outfits. (Which I was a-okay with. Those still creep me out.)

Top of the float.

Slow durge music. Near the end of the video watch as the float turns the corner. It's like turning corners in marching band only abazillionmillion times worse.

So cool.

I'm not religious at all, but there is something about these processions that gets me. Everyone is so serious and the music is so loud and intense, that you can't help but get in the spirit. It is definitely a unique experience. 

However, as intriguing as they are, seeing one a year just about meets my quota. I missed Semana Santa when I was studying in Granada and only saw the end of one on the last Sunday. But from hearing other people talk about watching them all week, they are all basically the same. 

So now I can be happy, since I will be missing Semana Santa in Spain again this year, but now I've seen my procession to last me through the year.

Bushwacking Down a Mountain - Jimena de la Frontera

Have you ever tried it? It's really fun, I'd recommend it. Only make sure you wear sneakers, not 1-size too big leather boots. But I guess that just adds to the experience, right?

This winter in Algeciras has been extremely unusual. January is supposed to be the coldest month, averaging low 50's and raining all the time, but instead it's been sunny and mid 60's for the last month. NOT that I'm complaining, but I feel like I need to take advantage of weather like that!

So yesterday a couple friends and I packed some lunches and headed out to Jimena de la Frontera, a small pueblo blanco close by Algeciras.

"Jimena de la Frontera: A Paradise mixed with history and nature"

The town was GORGEOUS, and we finally felt like we were in Spain again. Because living in Algeciras in no way feels like living in Spain. (Or at least the romanticized, idealized, view of living in Spain.) The only thing it's got going for it is that everybody there speaks Spanish.

Love me some decorated windows :)

Anyway, a day in Jimena was just what we needed. The train station is at the base of a hill, and the prettiest part of the city sprawls across the side of a small mountain. At the top of the mountain is the ruins of a castle. By the time we made it to the castle we were tired, sweaty and feeling disgusting. So the breeze that whipped across the top was the most fantastic feeling ever!

Entrance to the castle ruins

View of Jimena from the top

Behind the castle we noticed a collection of rocks that looked like a fun place to have a picnic. Here's where bushwacking part 1 comes in. There was a trail, kind of. Larken dashed across the rocks like nobody's business, leaving Christine and I to stumble behind her, attempting to stay balanced while lugging giant purses. But we made it, and wound up having a glorious lunch basking in the sunlight.

Food, gorgeous scenery, and warm sun. Perfect.

While eating, we noticed the river down below, sparkling and inviting. We decided that a trip down the backside of the mountain in pursuit of this river was a good idea. About 10 minutes in we decided that this probably hadn't been the best decision, but by then it was too late to turn back.
This is when the part about wearing boots and lugging a giant purse starts to cause a problem, and bushwacking part 2 is in full swing. Because by this point, there really wasn't any path we were following. Just kinda hit or miss, trying to avoid the prickly bushes, loudly complaining when we didn't avoid them, passing off bags to Larken who had no problem carrying 3 purses while Christine and I couldn't even handle one, and realizing that if we missed a step..well...just don't think about that.

See a trail? ....Neither did we.

Sliding down the mountain on our butts.

But we made it, no injuries.
And then we befriended a dog and found a 300 year old canal by the river. And found a guy playing guitar by himself on a sand bar.

300 year old canal that was built to move weapons and artillery materials down the river.

What a life :)

By the time we made it back to the train station, our legs felt like jello and we were ready for a nap. It was a good day!